Crab & Boar

“1st class stay & service”

From the time that we arrived to the time we left we have had the most superb stay. Really lovely welcome & made to feel at home straight away, the room was nice, clean & spacious with a courtyard garden which was a bonus & a beautiful shower that was perfect as my partner is partially sighted and … more

From the time that we arrived to the time we left we have had the most superb stay. Really lovely welcome & made to feel at home straight away, the room was nice, clean & spacious with a courtyard garden which was a bonus & a beautiful shower that was perfect as my partner is partially sighted and the entrance to shower was wide enough. In the restaurant the service was 1st class, the staff couldn’t of been more accommodating, the waitress Sophie was the best, most polite we have ever experience, huge asset to the Crab & Boar. The food was out of this world both breakfast & dinner, we will definitely go back.

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“A relaxed, carefree country stay in a beautiful room with delicious food.”

We had Sunday lunch with friends and then stayed the night travelling home the following day as a one night runaway from reality. From the moment we arrived Dave and the team were so welcoming and understanding at pre-empting our needs, after a very hot, long drive. It was the hottest day of the ye… more

We had Sunday lunch with friends and then stayed the night travelling home the following day as a one night runaway from reality. From the moment we arrived Dave and the team were so welcoming and understanding at pre-empting our needs, after a very hot, long drive. It was the hottest day of the year (over 30 Degrees). Superb, understated customer service from all the team including their friendly chocolate spaniel. They were there when we needed them but discrete when we didn’t. Spot on. Thank you for your telepathic understanding throughout our stay. Room : We stayed in a Signature Double, Popeswood which is up a short flight of stairs. This is a spacious, airy room, simply furnished with some beautifully shaped and carved pieces. Excellent double shower (rainfall and ‘ normal’ shower heads) and a huge, deep bath tub. Large, exceptionally comfortable bed. We slept so well. Wooden floor with large rugs. Tea and coffee, biscuits in the room with refills and fresh milk from the bar. Bramley toiletries, lightly but beautifully scented. Parking : Huge car park with a separate entrance and exit. The entrance has a sign saying Welcome and an arrow, the exit is unmarked. If approaching from the direction we did, you get to the unmarked turning first, keep going and the actual entrance is further along. Sunday Lunch : Delicious 3 course lunch especially the slow roasted beef which was meltingly tender and so full of flavour. All ingredients locally sourced. Goram 0% IPA on draught tastes ever bit as good as its alcoholic counter part. Breakfast : such an impressive range of choice from full English to Shakshuka, Eggs Benedict/ Florentine / Royale, avocado, pastries. In fact best just to look at their menu online . All very good and generous portions to set you up for the day. Throughout this short stay we felt like private guests of extended family in a such an historic coaching inn with so much background and its stories to tell. Cromwell stayed there before the Battle of Newbury and it is through him the Boar got its name. Thank you so much for such a relaxed and carefree stay in a beautiful room with delicious food.

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“Would Stay Again”

We booked 4 nights B&B in a classic double room and were shown to the ground floor Langley. Lovely room, with a fantastic en-suite shower, but the heat in the room was unbearable, even with a fan. On our first morning we were asked how we slept and we immediately said the room was extremely hot - I… more

We booked 4 nights B&B in a classic double room and were shown to the ground floor Langley. Lovely room, with a fantastic en-suite shower, but the heat in the room was unbearable, even with a fan. On our first morning we were asked how we slept and we immediately said the room was extremely hot - I wish at this point we’d been offered an alternative (or that we’d thought to ask for a move but we wrongly presumed all rooms would be the same temperature). It was only on checking out that we learnt we were next to the boiler room and the pipes went under our room!! After saying how hot we’d found the room we were shown another room on the ground floor and as soon as the door opened, it instantly felt much cooler. We also thought it better furnished/finished as the Langley did need some TLC regarding repairs. The heat in our room destroyed our sleep so while we’d most definitely return here we would definitely request a different room and happily pay extra to get a good nights sleep. We ate one evening meal here and four breakfasts, all absolutely delicious. The staff were fantastic, the location offered us easy access to Newbury, it was very quiet and there’s plenty of parking (including 3 electric chargers).

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“Lovely staff, but food moderate and very overpriced”

This is a review of the restaurant and pub only as we didn’t stay there. The staff and the pub itself are lovely. However the food portions are small and very overpriced £7.50 inc service for bread and butter, £20 inc service for a burger. The fish and chips came with a very small portion of fish… more

This is a review of the restaurant and pub only as we didn’t stay there. The staff and the pub itself are lovely. However the food portions are small and very overpriced £7.50 inc service for bread and butter, £20 inc service for a burger. The fish and chips came with a very small portion of fish. Any good burger should just be a high quality beef patty with some cheese, and garnish served with anything the customer then requests then added as extra. The chef here clearly thinks the key is to drown the burger with so many other ingredients, relishes, pickles, onions and flavours that you wouldn’t know what you were eating. A classic case of something so simple being ruined by someone trying (and failing!) to show they should be working somewhere better than a pub! Wouldn’t put you off going here for a drink but with these portion sized and prices it was hardly surprising the restaurant was virtually empty. I hope the owners take note as this could be a lovely venue.

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